What’s Happening?

Dover Motor Speedway is a speedy and high-banked yet short and narrow race track. That is the recipe for some treacherous driving and, unfortunately, some big crashes. Every year, it seems that Dover has something crazy happen, and these are the wildest crashes at Dover Motor Speedway.

• Dover Motor Speedway is known for large pile-ups, but, the high speeds mean cars also can get airborne at the track. Both types of crashes will be included on this list.
• No crashes that resulted in fatalities or major injuries will be included on this list.
• Fans are used to seeing big crashes at Dover along with some long green flag runs. It’s part of the interesting dichotomy with the track.

5. 1995 Spring: An Ugly Start on the New Surface

The 1995 spring race at Dover was the first test of the concrete surface. Many drivers didn’t even make it to lap 3 as John Andretti and Ricky Craven made contact in turn 4. The result was a 19-car pileup featuring big names like Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.

The crash happening early in the race meant that drivers could fix their cars to finish the race. Wallace ended up overcoming the crash to finish in the top 10.

4. 2012 Spring: The Big One

The backstretch is every bit as treacherous as the front stretch at Dover. Tony Stewart, Regan Smith, and David Reutimann were all caught fighting for the same real estate on lap 9, sending all 3 into a spin. The field quickly caught up to the trio, and the pileup began.

A total of 13 cars were involved in the crash. Unlike the 1995 wreck, drivers were unable to mount any notable comebacks from this crash.

3. 2016 Spring: Restart Crash

Unlike most big Dover crashes which happen early in the race, this one happened late in the going. Jimmie Johnson was on the front row on a restart with 45 laps to go, but he missed a shift, causing a stackup in the top lane. Johnson was eventually turned around, and the field piled up behind him.

A total of 18 cars were involved including Johnson, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin and Larson came back to finish in the top 10, with Larson narrowly missing out on his first career win, finishing 2nd.

2. 2008 Spring: The Big One

Mike Joy often refers to Dover as a “Self-Cleaning Race Track” due to the 9 degrees of banking on the straightaways. Most cars that spin out naturally roll to the inside, but, Elliott Sadler stayed planted in the middle of the backstretch after a crash early in the 2008 spring race.

The 11-car pileup seemed to last forever, and it collected drivers like Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. None of these drivers came back from this wreck.

1. 2009 Fall: Joey Logano’s Barrell Roll

In a list filled with pileups, it’s a barrel roll that takes the top spot. Joey Logano was sent spinning into turn 3 on lap 32 of the 2009 fall race at Dover. After hitting the wall, he was forced onto his side, sending the car into a barrel roll.

Logano was okay after the incident, and it was something no one expected. Dover is not a track known for big flips, but, it happened at this race.

What other crazy crashes did we miss out on? Dover is always a track that leads to some crazy wrecks.